A/N: For those of you who've read Mercatija I hope you enjoy this little nugget!

Language Key:
Fa'chuk [fah'chook] - Scum

Tu an maka fak, sesti [Too ahn mah-kah fahk, sehs-tee]- You are a son of a bitch, little one.

Ja yambe, lunto [Zha yahm-bey, loon-toh] - Yeah maybe, old man

Luca turned off the stove and poured the queso dip into a bowl. He sat it in the living room with a few other snacks and drinks. He pushed the couch further back nearer to the bookshelf and pulled the projection screen down to create a theatre-like atmosphere.

He assessed the room and nodded, it was good enough. He has no idea what films they're going to watch but he figured he'd leave that part up to Minerva. His heart thumped at the sound of the elevator ding. The doors opened and Gordon and Nadia were standing there with arms full of foliage.

"You remembered." Luca chuckled, taking a few plants out of her arms.

"Of course, I told you I was going to bring some over to get some life into this place." 

"Mr. Shola, can I speak to you in private about something?" Gordon asked, sitting the taller plant on the floor.

"Yeah that's fine," He nodded, "excuse us Nadia, just, um make yourself at home." 

"Sure, I'll get your new babies settled in." 

Gordon followed him down the hall and into another room. Luca shut the door behind him and took note of  Gordon's tense form, "What's going on?" 

"Well, I didn't want to alarm Miss Nadia, but there's a car that sits outside of her apartment every night." He said, showing Luca a picture of a black mustang on his phone, "I've run the plates and the car is registered to Jonathan Hatch, but that guy is in jail so I don't know who's in the car." 

Luca looked at the photo and frowned, he didn't know that name and he wasn't sure if it was one of Ciara's idiots she paid to watch him.

"You were right not to tell Nadia, but I want someone from her team to follow this person and find out everything you can about Jonathan Hatch." 

"I will do, sir. Nadia's pretty observant, but this car is never around in the day time, so I doubt she knows this is happening. I'm not sure why they'd be watching her apartment at night."

"I'm not sure either, but I need to know if they have any connections to Ciara." 

"Should I tell Miss Nadia what's going on?" 

"No, we'll talk to her once we have more information." 

Gordon nodded, "Fair enough, sir." 

"Thanks for bringing this to my attention, keep me posted with anything you find out." 

"I will, I'm going to talk to the team now." He said opening the door to his office.

"Good, you should get some rest too, I'm not sure how late we'll be." 

Gordon chuckled as they walked down the hall, "I will do."

"Who is it?" Luca's ears perked up at the sound of Nadia speaking into his intercom. A smile tugged at his lips at the picture she made answering his door and the way she arranged the plants in his living room. She was right, the greenery really added some life against the black and grey backdrop.

"She certainly looks right at home here." Gordon chuckled, a sly grin gracing his lips.

A blushed burned over Luca's cheeks, "Yeah, she does," he murmured.

"It's us, Nadia! Press the damn button so we can come up." Cameron laughed through the speaker.

"I don't even know where the button is! Shouldn't you have a key?" She yelled back at him. 

Luca burst out laughing as he slid up behind her, "It's this button here," he chuckled, pressing a black button just below the intercom to release the elevator.

"Oh damn, it was so simple." 

"Enjoy your night, you two. Nadia just text me when you're ready to go home." Gordon smiled as he stepped onto the elevator.

"Thanks Gordon," she waved.

Luca couldn't hide the wide grin on his face as he stared at her. Tonight, he wasn't going to think about the unsettling information Gordon told him. Nadia was safe here with him and he was going to enjoy the company of friends and the color she brought into his home.

"Thank you for the plants, they look nice."

"Yeah, they do right?" She smiled and her eyes grew wide, "I haven't even shown you the best one!" 

She skipped into the living room to pick up a small potted plant sitting on the coffee table. "This is your baby ganja plant, it's tangerine kush. I've grown a few of these, it's a sativa-indica hybrid so you should like it once it buds."

"I can't believe you brought me this. You're unbelievable," he chuckled. "Where should I keep it?" 

Luca watched the way Nadia's eyes lit up as she explained how to care for the plant and where he should keep it. He couldn't help watching the way her lips moved and wondered what it would be like to taste her plump - Jesus, what the hell am I thinking? He needed to stop having thoughts like this about her.

"Well this is quite the set up you have here." Minerva exclaimed, interrupting his inappropriate thoughts.

"The greenery is new, when did you decide to change up the color scheme?" Cameron chuckled, placing a few bags of food on the kitchen island.

"Yeah, well Nadia thought I needed to add some life in here," He shrugged, "and welcome to my home Minerva, feel free to make yourself comfortable." 

"I sure will! I'm surprised at you Nadia, that's unlike you to share your garden with anyone." 

Luca raised an eyebrow at Nadia who was glaring at Minerva, "Shut up, he needed them as you can see he has a weird affinity for black and grey." 

"Mm, you're not lying," she murmured, "So! I hear you've got a good selection of booze and weed for us?" 

"You get right to the point don't you?" Luca laughed, "You can help yourself to the bar and I've already prepared a few things for us on the balcony." 

"Alright!" Minerva clapped her hands together, "This is going to be an excellent night. I hope you're into horror because I brought some good ones." 

"Yeah I love a good horror film," Luca grinned while Nadia groaned and cursed under her breath. He chuckled, "I take it you don't like scary movies?"

"It's not my favorite genre, no." 

"But you don't mind watching them with me," Minerva giggled slipping her arm through hers, "come on let's check out this bar and get a little tipsy," she grinned pulling her into the kitchen.

"She's a trip, right?" Cameron laughed,

Luca shook his head as he watched the two go through his liquor cabinet. "Minerva certainly doesn't need an invitation to make herself at home."

"No she doesn't," Cameron chuckled watching the two chattering in the kitchen, "we'll be on the balcony when you're ready." 

Minerva popped her head up from the cabinet and frowned, "you don't want a drink?"

"Yeah sure, surprise me. I trust you." 

A grin lit up Minerva's face, "Alright, babe you got it."

Luca raised his eyebrow at Cameron as he followed him out to the balcony, "Babe? So are you and Minerva a couple now?" 

Cameron laughed as he sat in one of the chairs and opened the wooden box on the table, "We haven't decided if we're exclusive yet, but I don't want to see anyone else." 

"I can't believe you're actually considering being in a steady relationship. Minerva must be a pretty special woman to get you talking like this." 

"Mm, she is," he said, lighting a blunt, "but I'm surprised to see you looking so comfortable with Nadia here."

Luca blushed leaning back in his chair, "I don't know what you're talking about. It's only her second time being here."

"Yeah exactly and the way you two looked when Minerva and I came in, it was like she'd always been around. You look so confident around her, like you used to be." 

Luca shrugged, "I don't know about all that, but I-I like being around her. She's a good friend." 

Cameron barked out a laugh and passed him the blunt, "A friend, okay, buddy. Whenever you're ready to admit you like her more than that I'll be ready to listen." 

"Fuck off, that's all it is." That's all Luca would allow it to be too. 

A smile lit up his face when Nadia and Minerva came out to the balcony with a tray of cocktails. Luca ignored the sarcastic 'mm-hm' Cameron grumbled under his breath. Instead, he took a toke on the blunt and grinned when Nadia plopped herself down in the chair next to him.  She leaned over and plucked it out of his hand, "sure, I was ready to pass that," he teased.

A grinned tugged at her lips and her eyes filled with mischief, "I know that's why I took it."

His heart pounded in his chest at her teasing tone. Maybe Cameron was right, these feelings he had for her might be pushing over that friendship line. But he'd never let Nadia know that, nor would he act on it. 

It was bad enough Ciara already had someone watching her apartment. If Nadia was romantically involved with him he wouldn't negotiate with her over having a security team. She would be under constant surveillance and she'd hate him for it. 

"You okay?" Her puzzled tone pierced through his thoughts.

He cleared his throat,  "yeah, I'm good, why?" 

"I don't know, your face went all doom and gloom for a minute," she passed the blunt back to him, "maybe you need another hit." 

He plucked it from her hand, "Yeah I do, since you interrupted my turn, ya fiend."

"Oh I'm a fiend?" She choked out a laugh, "this coming from the man with a case full of fucking blunts." 

He blew out the smoke in his mouth and smirked, "says the woman who grows her own."

"I-" She started to argue, but laughed instead, "touché." 

He leaned toward her, "Now it's your turn, little fiend." 

"Oh great another nickname. You know, you make up a different one everyday. Yesterday I was a little goblin because of my crystal collection," she pointed her finger at him, "which isn't weird."

"Yes it is." 

She squinted her eyes at him, "Anyway - how many names are you going to give me?" 

He shrugged, "I don't know, none of them have stuck yet." 

"I've got one for you," she mumbled.

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? You haven't called me anything other than Luca, so what is it?" 

A grin spread across her face, "It's...fa'chuk!" 

His eyes grew wide and he burst out laughing, "Tu an maka fak, sesti." 

She shrugged, "Ja yambe, lunto." 

"Fucking nerd alert!" Minerva yelled out,  bursting the little world around them. 

Cameron fell into laughing next to her, "What the hell language was that?" 

"It's Catijan," Nadia laughed, "and fuck you both. We stan our nerdiness."

"Damn straight," Luca chimed and was rewarded with a dazzling smile on Nadia's face that danced in her eyes. 

"Okay, but...y'all weird." Minerva giggled, pouring everyone a shot of tequila "and we need to toast to this night." 

"What are we making a toast to?" 

Minerva shrugged, "I don't know, to life, a good night and..." She smiled at Cameron, "new beginnings."

Luca nodded, taking a shot glass and handing one to Nadia, "that sounds about right." 

They raised their glasses to each other and threw back the spicy liquor. A chorus of 'why' and 'oh dear god' filled the night air. Luca couldn't hold back his laughter at the pain in everyone's eyes. 

"Shut up! Oh my God I forgot how much tequila burns." Nadia whined as she gulped down her gin and lemonade.

To new beginnings and a good night indeed.

Luca hadn't had this much fun in a long time and the night was just beginning. He didn't realise how much he needed this.